Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1887-06-22
CHARLES d. KEEP.

COulu Dc So deeply ChAhlzEo ~ h1AsA'
covered that Charley Keep couldn't find it,
| no political secret was safe, and it was hard
work for the police even to keep him from
anticipating all their fine work.
| II news was scarce Keep would invent it.
One summer he applied for a vacation. his
salary to go on while he was away. This
was agreed to on condition that Keep should
! furnish something interesting for the paper
| every day he was away. Keep decided to
| pass his time of rest in Canada, and went at
once to Toronto. The next day he sent two
column letter to his paper, and when the first
| edition came out the town was instantly
| thrown into an uproar.
1t was during the Fenian excitement, and
Keep announced in his letter that party of
well known Rochester men--giving their
| names-who were most of them Englishmen.
and were in Canada on fishing excursion
had been arrested and thrown into British
dungeon on suspicion of being Fenian sym
pathizers Keep wrote a moving account of
the sufferings endured by the prisoners; told
how they were obliged to subsst on bread
and water, and alleged that the two wh'
were suspected of being the leaders of the
party were subjected to solitary conf e.
ment and were kept in irons. III
precious story was supplemented by an
account OF an interview with two OF
three of the victims of Canadian
suspicion and an urgent appeal to the United
States government to at once right the wrong
suffered by the imprisoned citizens. The
case was aggravated enough, the writer
alleged, to call for war
Anumber of the supposed prisoners friends
called meeting at once, and doubtless dele
cation would have been sent to Canada the
next day had not the fishermen returned to
Rochester on the evening train, sound and
well, and free from evidences of inprson-
ment in a foreign Jail.
Or course there was great indignation, and
two or three of the victims of the joke threat
ened to sue the paper for libel. but the matter
was finally dropped, though Keep was for
some time in disgrace with his employers, who
We're as much deceived as anybody in the
matter. Keep regained his standing some
what later by balloon ascension which he
made with travelling balloonist. The ma &c.
OF the city was induced to make the ascent,
and every paper in the place wanted to send
reporter. 1t was decided that the balloon
would only carry double, but Keeps cheek
and persistence carried him through, and
when the balloon arose the other reporters
were disguised to find that there were three
meh III the car and that one of them was
h-eep.
Well, they had a nice sail in the clouds, hut
their landing experience was a terror. The
balloon diifted fourteen or fifteen miles to
the northwest of the city, and when it began
to sink the aeronaut threw out his grapnel.
Everything looked favorable for a safe land
ing, but there was a strong current of wind
near the earth that the voyagers had not
counted on, and when the balloon struck
it all their calculations were upset. The
grapnel caught in rail fence, the car wa,
tilted and the fence was almost as badly de
moralized as the balloonists' nerves, The
balloon was carried along at lively rate and
the rails flew in every direction. Keep was
the first man spilled out and he came down
all in heap, pretty badly frightened and
shaken up, but not much hurt The mayor
fell out about ten rods further on, but the
bal!oonist chung to the floating craft for
some distance. AT last he was brushed out OF
the basket by trees branches, which also
tore open the gas bag.
or course Keep had big "scoop" on the
rest of the boys, and Ire made tie most of hi
story.
The public Is already familiar with Keep,
later life, his success with The Wall Street
News and the manner in which he ANNOYED
Jay Gould through its columns.
CHARLES LINNLEY.